Ash Wednesday

The colors that occur in the poem have some symbolic value. White is a symbol of purity, thus the “white leopards” who metaphorically devour the speaker’s body in Part II (Line 1) are actually a positive symbol, since they devour the outer form of the individual, not his inner essence—which, in the speaker’s view, is exactly what he needs in a symbolic sense. In the same section, the Lady is presented as “withdrawn / In a white gown, to contemplation, in a white gown” (Lines 16-17). She has withdrawn into the purity of the deepest aspect of her being, and the “whiteness of bones” in the following line is again a positive symbol, since they “atone to forgetfulness” (of the troublesome personal self, that is, that seems to act as an obstacle to communion with God [Line 18]).

White is also identified along with blue in Part IV as a symbol of the Lady and also of the Virgin Mary. Of the two, blue seems to be the more significant color because it is mentioned more often. The Lady/Virgin “Made cool the dry rock and made firm the sand / In blue of larkspur, blue of Mary’s colour” (Lines 9-10). Images of Mary in Catholic and Anglo-Catholic churches (such as those that Eliot might have attended) show the Virgin attired in blue.